


Against the World

by arborealstops



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-21 09:21:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21072578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arborealstops/pseuds/arborealstops
Summary: Jed, Abbey, and Leo. Leo, Abbey, and Jed. Against the world. Until the end.





	Against the World

**Author's Note:**

> I told myself and my friends that I wouldn't publish this.

They were never even supposed to fall in love. 

Hell, if she was being honest, there were a lot of things the three of them had done that they weren't "supposed" to do. Elect Jed president, for one- Abbey was pretty sure that electing a man with multiple sclerosis- and then _hiding_ it from the country for three years- was not something that you were supposed to do. Neither was assassinating foreign terrorists, or shutting down the government, but that certainly hadn't stopped them. 

They were never supposed to fall in love, but that didn't change the fact that they had. It was the three of them against the world. Jed, the president; Abbey, the first lady; and Leo, the ex-chief of staff. Working together, fighting together, sleeping together. 

Until today. 

Abbey knew things had been tense lately, knew that she and Jed were still working through rough patches, knew that Jed and Leo were still struggling. But one thing had stayed through it all- they still had each other. No matter what happened, Abbey knew that she could turn to Jed or Leo and they would support her, and she knew that she would support either of them when they needed it. Through it all, they loved each other. Through their daughter's kidnapping, through Jed's failing health and Leo's heart attack. Maybe they had disagreed, maybe they had fought, but they always had each other. And, foolishly, Abbey had believed it would always be that way- Jed, Abbey and Leo against the world. 

Until last night. 

Last night, when Jed had called her to tell her that Leo, her Leo, his Leo, _their_ Leo, had had another heart attack. 

Last night, when Ellie had broken off in the middle of the middle of a phone call with her father, collapsing into sobs. 

Last night, when she had taken the phone from her middlest daughter, had sat silently as Jed gave her the news- told her that Leo, their Leo, their beautiful, wonderful, smart, kind Leo McGarry, was dead. 

And neither of them had been there for him. 

Abbey had curled up in bed with her daughters, her and Ellie and Zoey huddled together, their tears soaking the pillows. But Abbey hadn't been able to sleep. She couldn't stop thinking about it. About him. 

She and Jed had been ready, once. Once, when Leo felt he hadn't been able to come to them, when Jed had had to pick him up off of countless parking lots, when he had gone home smelling of whiskey and vomit, leaving Jed and Abbey to worry alone. When he hadn't been able to speak to them, and they hadn't known how to reach him. 

They'd been almost ready, over a year ago, after he'd survived his heart attack at Camp David. They weren't truly ready, because no one is ever really ready to lose one of the great loves of their life. But at least then, they'd been prepared. Not now. 

Not now, when Jed was at the White House, and she was in New Hampshire, and Leo in Texas. Not now, when they had finally begun to work it all out, when they had all, finally, been happy. 

Happy. Happy. They'd been happy and in love, the three of them. Jed, Abbey, and Leo. Leo, Abbey, and Jed. Against the world. Until the end. Until now. 

When Zoey told her that Matthew Santos would be their next president, Abbey just closed her eyes and nodded. 

_Against the world._

**Author's Note:**

> It's just like me to have my first Jed/Abbey/Leo fic to be about death


End file.
